Icecream Journal

The inside scoop on ice cream and Turkey Hill Dairy

UBE ICE CREAM!

The purple scoop pictured above isn’t something you’re likely to find at your local grocery store or even your local ice cream shop. It’s called Ube Ice Cream and it’s a very popular flavor in the Philippines. The sweet treat gets its unique color from the ube (“ooo-bee” or “ooo-bay”), an incredibly vibrant, sweet, purple yam used in a variety of Filipino desserts (like ube cake, ube buns, and ube macaroons ). Since we’ve never had Ube Ice Cream, we can’t attest to its flavor, but it sure does look good, especially with that oh-so-tempting drip about to fall off the right side!

I was watching an old rerun of Raymond last night and Deborah was trying to console herself following hearing of her parents divorce. What a smart girl. She was scooping ice cream out of a 1/2 gallon with a cookie…Turkey Hill ice cream was very prominently shown as the ice cream!!

I heard of this treat, my cousin is married to a Philippino lady. But I would have to pass on this, just give me my Turkey Hill, Hmmmmm must go get some Raspberry, made me hungry for this flavor today. Linda

Ube Ice Cream? What A Name! lol….Anyway, I have to say …”I Love The Color Purple”! But, “I will and am Going To Keep My Belly & My Taste Buds Where They Are Safe And Where I Love Them Yo Be”!!!; “TURKEY HILL”!!!

I have a friend, Rick, who now lives in the Phillipines. I am going to e-mail him and ask if he and his family have enjoyed this treat. Will let you know his thoughts on the taste, it sure is a beautiful color.

The site of Ube makes my mouth water but when you told us it is from yams the brain did an about face. My brain tells me its like eating mashed potato ice cream. It is sometimes better not to know where it comes from.

CAN YOU PLEASE STOP maki9ng all odd flavors, with so much STUFF in it. Is real problem with peaniuts, and at times cannot tell if ice cream has it in it, is dangerous. so why just not stick to normal flavors, too many choices lead to higher costs for you and then to us too. who needs pretzel ones and those with what i call junk in it, enough is enough. Is very ahrd to find normal flavors anymore. You need to also make more low fat, sugar free ones in normal flavors as do other companies as this is what is needed as many of us cannot or shouldn ot eat all the full fat and sugar ones. think about us too.

Looks really great, almost the same color as my bedroom! Here’s a short Junior Mint story.. my daughter lives in NJ I live in NY. They do not sell Junior Mint where I live. So she bought me a half gal., but it never made it to my house, they ate it! and this happened twice. Will I ever get my JM!!!

Mmmmm. It looks good. At first I thought it was raspberry or something. That drip makes me hungry for strawberry ice cream (One of my many favorites) with fresh strawberries. But I’d be okay with that! It looks really good!

I live in Idaho and travel to the Philippines each year for about 3 months. Ube ice cream is always my first taste treat when I get there. It is great, wonderful, and extraordinary. Americans would gobble it up if they ever had access to it. I have always wondered why it is not in the States. If you ever get to experience the taste, you will find it is a cross between hazlenut, vanilla, and chocolate type flavor profiles. Actually, it has a taste of its own It is truly addicting. The purple color does not stain anything. Ube is basicaly a yam type root and the dried powder of the ube is used in baking cakes, ice cream, candies, etc.

i just came back from the Phlippines last month from my first trip there and my now all time favorite dessert is called Halo halo it is made of fruits and Ube ice cream.. Ube ice cream is totally amazing and i crave it so much.. when i return to the Phils this will be my first request… mmmm!!!

To those of you who say “no thanks” to any dessert made with real, proper ube, I say, “Tsk.” Ube flavor is subtle, complex, earthy, starchy and completely distinct. There’s a reason why my fellow Filipinos use this exotic yam on nearly every dessert. (Best example: French opera cake done with ube instead of coffee and chocolate.) After a while, chocolate and berry flavors are overwhelming. Ube never cloys the senses; it’s a must-try. When trying out ube for the first time, go out of your way to get a dessert made with real mashed ube in it — and not just artificial ube flavoring.

My husband and I went to San Francisco 2 years ago and there’s a small ice cream store called Mitchell’s Ice cream which is in business since the 1950’s. They have tropical flavors, most of which are from the Philippines. I think they have the best Ube flavor, way better than the Philippines’ Magnolia and Selecta brands. My husband is white and he can attest that it has become one of his favorite flavors. Since then we have to stop by the store every time we go visit the Bay Area.

loved ube since i was a child! that’s how i received the name… If i didn’t come from a Filipino decent i might have missed out on this delicious flavor as a kid. Everything that I’ve tried – that has an ube base has been lovely. Once i had the soup… i almost fainted!

I love the unique flavor of ube ice cream. You can find it in most Asian supermarkets that sell Filipino products. I’ve made one when I was in culinary school using a simple Pumpkin ice cream recipe and substituting purple yam for pumpkin. You can also use powdered ube if you can’t find a frozen/fresh yams. There are also plenty of ube ice cream recipes online that you can try.

i have had the pleasure of eating ube ice cream since the 1960,s i was stationed in the philippines for 2 years and i lived in guam for 12 more years (yes they have ube ice cream there too. since the local population of guam is 60% philippino. and i love it on halo-halo i always say ummmm masarap

i was stationed in the Philippines for 2 years but had visited the islands for about 18 years or more and i lived in guam for 12 years %60 of guam are philippino so naturally they have ube ice cream and halo-halo loved it for years and all i can say is uuummmm maraming masarap

I would love for Turkey Hill to add it to their roster. The closest flavor I can compare it to is pumpkin, but you just have to taste it to understand. I had it at a Filipino friend’s birthday party. I’ve been grabbing it at Asian grocery stores when I can (I live in New York City, after all). The only problem is that it’s mellorine rather than real ice cream and it usually costs $7 for 1.7 liters, whereas a container of Turkey Hill can often be had on sale for $2!

[…] Ube ice cream I know it’s a bit naughty to have ice cream, but at least this is made of purple yam. This starchy food ishigh in vitamins C and B6, so the ice cream is only a bit of a weekend treat! To wash all this down I’d recommend a glass of iced chai tea. Cheers! […]

I’ve actually had this flavor before when I was stationed in Okinawa. It’s fantastic. And I don’t even like yams. I can’t really think of another flavor to try to describe what it tastes like, but it was definately my favorite flavor.

I can’t forget an american who stayed in our apartment, here in Bohol Philippines, his name is Peter Geiger. He is a peace corps volunteer. He brought his parents here and they tried the ube ice cream, he said they were so amazed and loved the Ube ice cream that had them buy another gallon of it.(They were only three).

All of you people who aren’t willing to try this are totally missing out. Ube is such an amazing flavor, but because it’s so unique its hard to describe. It’s not fruity. It has a sort of smooth sweetness, I suppose. It’s not at all overwhelming. You have to try it to understand. Find an Asian market, they’ll have Ube ice cream!

You totally CAN get it in the US! Like I said in my other post, find an Asian market! Of course, Mitchell’s in SF is top notch, but store bought is great, too. Btw, it’s pronounced Oo-Beh, not ooo-bee.

I have had ube ice cream on a number of occasions and it is a little scoop of heaven. A bit sweet, but very tasty. It is popular here in Hawaii and I have also had it in the Philippines. I’m not absolutely sure if it really is a yam, or actually a sweet potato. (Like the Okinawan sweet potato which is white on the outside and purple inside.)

Ube Ice cream is very sweet and very addicting. That is the only way I can decribe the flavor when I tried it in the Philippines in 2010 is sweet. If you ever want to try it here in the US, I DO know that several Filipino Stores in Queens, New York DO carry that flavor of ice cream… especially around Astoria. Also check local asian markets and stores, if the do not carry it, I am sure they would NOT have a problem ordering it for you. But be forewarned… once you have tasted Ube Ice Cream… you are going to want MORE

to Chip Hardy if you check this! No idea where there is any near Brighton. We are looking around for Asian stores now my sister-in-law lives here and she’s from the Philippines. I didn’t see any in Lansing at the store we went to, or Ann Arbor. We have to head out towards Detroit soon to find more stuff.

Lived there for two years. Ube was a good cheap treat, but it definitely got old and I eventually started to dislike it. I can still taste it in my mouth and that was more than 15 years ago, lol. But, it was refreshing in the 115+ degree weather, that’s for sure. Everyone should try this 🙂

I’m originally from the Philippines and Ube is definitely among my favorite ice creams. Like previous posts it has a subtle sweet and nutty flavor. While a yam, it imparts it’s flavor, not it’s texture. If done right, it has the texture as any ice cream.

I figured it would only be appreciated by those who grow up with it from childhood, but I brought it to work for an adventurous co-worker to try and before you know it, everybody had to try it and loved it! I work at an afterschool program and the kids there loved it too and can’t wait til I bring more in. This was last year and they still randomly bring it up.

Ube may be too Filipino a term, so you’ll probably see it as “taro” in stores. It’s a great flavor as Bubble Tea too.

i love ube ice cream. the flavour is subtle almost vanilla but not quite… its creamy, mellow and no it does not taste like a potato. it has a distinct flavor that takes a while to get used to but its quite a suprise. Ube ice cream is typically paired with Macapuno, a type of sweet coconut. Oh, another flavour worth trying is pandan ice cream!

I am eating halo halo ( shaved ice with jackfruit,flan and nata de coco) with lots of ube ice cream. Ube ice cream is a very popular flavor in the philippines. It is made using powdered purple yam . Purple yam is similar to Taro which is one of the boba flavors here in the US. It does’nt stain your teeth or anything like that. My kids who are born here in the US love ube ice cream. As immigrants here in the US, it is important for us to pass tradition to our kids , and that includes eating ube ice cream. If you have the chance to taste this amazing treat, I reccomend that you taste it. As what Andrew Zimmern always said, you have to taste twice before you say NO. Some maybe think that this ice cream flavor is weird..but do you know that we have Quezo (cheese) flavored, too? And it is one of my favorite.

First of all, only gringos would pronounce it oo-bee / oo-bay. The correct pronunciation is oo-beh. Secondly, for those haters who think it’s “nasty,” don’t knock it till you try it…twice! It may be an acquired taste for vanilla people. Just think, though, sweet potato pie is made from a tuber just like purple yam, but it doesn’t taste like mashed potatoes at all. Open your minds and mouths, and you will be pleasantly surprised. Ube is sooo creamy, rich, decadent, with a unique flavor reminiscent of…hmmm, buttery vanilla? Like I said, it’s a unique flavor that’s incomparable to anything else, though I might have to try butter popcorn JellieBellies again to see if it does taste like ube! I have a serious addiction to ube ice cream, especially with macapuno (young coconut), that I make it a point to pick up a gallon EVERY Sunday at my local Filipino restaurant / market. I do hope Turkey Hill comes out with this yummy yam goodness!!!

This is my favorite ice cream in the world, particularly when made with water buffalo milk, which provides a nice creamy texture like custard but without being overly sweet. You can get this flavor in Hawaii as well. Cheers.

[…] I’m not sure what to expect exactly but in my mind, Dean and I are in a giant park, high on ube ice cream and San Miguel, cheering for half-naked hill folk as they jiggle their bits and wield their […]

Yes! Please add my e-mail address to the Turkey Hill database to receive periodic updates about new products and other Turkey Hill news.

These comments are intended to be a discussion of the information presented in the blog postings. Any product-related questions or other issues not related to the post should be referred to our consumer response team through the link on our Contact Us page, as they are the true experts in answering any questions or concerns you may have about Turkey Hill and its products.

The Ice Cream Journal is a public forum and comments left here will be visible by all visitors (e-mail addresses will not be visible). When making comments, please adhere to standard guidelines of decorum and respect. Turkey Hill reserves the right to edit or delete comments in violation of these guidelines.

Got a question about your favorite flavor or a suggestion for a new one?Click here to tell us!

New product updates, coupons, and a whole lot more!

Our Recent Facebook Posts

That feeling when you’re down to the last container… leave a comment with a caption for this photo, and we’ll choose one to win some free..

Connect to the Ice Cream Journal

Subscribe to the Ice Cream Journal

Enter your email address to have new blog entries sent directly to your in-box!Subscribe to the Ice Cream Journal

Welcome

Welcome to the Ice Cream Journal! Here you'll find a collection of thoughts and stories about ice cream as well as a glimpse inside the ice cream making process at Turkey Hill Dairy. We'll also be updating our blog several times each week, so feel free to stop by often.

Got an ice cream question?

If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are the Turkey Hill experts have the answer. We might not be able to answer all questions, but we’ll try our best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.